"Water benefits all things without contention." (Taoism, Tao Te Ching 8)
True, false, good, bad, useful, not so useful, etc.? Discuss.
My thoughts:
Most of the aphorisms on this list kind of explain themselves, but I'll admit I had to read up on this one a little.
The three qualities of water Lao Tzu emphasized were:
- That it doesn't care whether it's consumed by bamboo, a cat, or a human. It "just works" for whatever needs it;
- It doesn't seek status -- in fact, it naturally flows to the lowest place it can find; and
- Although it is powerful -- it can penetrate and split rock -- it's also soft and easily shaped.
His point being that we should be like that.
It's been so long since I last read Tao Te Ching in its entirety that I don't recall whether he looked at it from the other side. Water is neither always beneficial nor always non-contentious, as anyone who's ever nearly drowned, had a home destroyed by storm/flood, etc., or even just had to treat or drain a gas tank because water got in the fuel can attest.
So I'd say that water is a lot more like humans actually are than like this aphorism implies humans should be. It doesn't just simulate human kindness or a supposedly ideal human placidity, it also simulates human will to power, human recklessness, etc.
